


The Chilling Case of the Wayne Murders

by CassandraStarflower



Series: Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Fictional Season | Part One: True Crime [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28150641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassandraStarflower/pseuds/CassandraStarflower
Summary: “This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we’re looking at the decades-old case of the Wayne murders.”
Relationships: Martha Wayne/Thomas Wayne
Series: Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Fictional Season | Part One: True Crime [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016008
Comments: 14
Kudos: 75





	1. The Chilling Case of the Wayne Murders

**Author's Note:**

> My final Buzzfeed Unsolved Fictional Season episode for the moment!   
> The timeline is literally so fucked don’t @ me please  
> No, the pun in the title was not intentional. Yes, it was the Joe Chill theory.

The episode begins as usual. 

“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we’re looking at the decades-old case of the Wayne murders.” Ryan said. “This case was in the papers for weeks afterward and remains unsolved to this day.” 

“I remember hearing about it.” Shane agreed. “They never caught the guy who did it, right?” 

“Right. Let’s get into it.”

“On June 26th, 1990, wealthy socialites Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered in an alleyway in their hometown of Gotham, New Jersey. The couple had been at the movies with their eight-year-old son, Bruce, who was the sole survivor.”

_ at least the killer wasn’t enough of a dick to shoot a kid, right? _

_ well according to the kid’s testimony, he absolutely would have shot him _

_ well fuck him then _

“The killer was never caught. 

Thomas Wayne was a doctor and owned a large company, Wayne Enterprises. He was well-liked by coworkers and employees alike and was, according to most, an excellent father who had a bit of an aggressive streak and had boxed for several years.”

_ excellent dad _

_ too bad the boxing wasn’t enough _

_ yeah, no kidding _

“Martha Wayne was a member of the Kane family and had founded a charity, the Wayne Foundation, which was meant to help the poor. It was later renamed the Martha Wayne foundation by her son and its focus was expanded to help all residents of Park Row. According to her many friends, she was a loving mother and had a thriving family and social life at the time of her death.”

_ nice lady _

_ very nice lady _

“Police arrived on the crime scene some twenty minutes after the initial gunshots to find the bodies of Thomas and Martha, with their son sitting between them in a pool of blood. According to EMTs on the scene, Bruce Wayne had gone into shock, which can be deadly if not treated. 

However, he was able to provide the police with a decent description of the culprit. 

“The murderer wore a heavy trench coat and hat, had dark hair and dark eyes, a square jaw, and a crooked nose.” 

_ pretty good description _

_ yeah _

_ according to a police statement, wayne locked eyes with the guy and just fuckin stared him down _

_ jesus christ _

_ intense kid _

_ what happened to him? _

_ he’s not like that anymore _

_ probably the trauma _

_ he did watch a man murder his parents _

“Tragically, despite the description, the murderer was never caught. Bruce Wayne was raised by his father’s former valet, Alfred Pennyworth, and as most of our audience knows, is now the CEO of his father’s company and donates considerable amounts of money to various charities, as well as adopting orphaned children.” 

_ he does a lot, doesn’t he?  _

_ but most people just think “oh he’s the stupid guy that gets drunk all the time” _

_ yeah _

“With that, let’s get into the theories.

“Theory number one: the murderer was small-time gang leader Joe Chill. 

This theory ties into the popular theory that Bruce Wayne is Batman, as little is known about the now-deceased Joe Chill except that he confessed to several other gang leaders that he had, quote, “created Batman”, end quote. How? Apparently, he had killed Batman’s parents when Batman was a child, a fact he had learned due to the fact that Batman had attacked him and revealed his identity to him. 

However, Joe Chill was never able to reveal Batman’s identity, as the revelation that he had essentially created the Dark Knight enraged his fellows, who murdered him.” 

_ interesting _

_ hmm _

_ i don’t know about this one, ryan _

_ it seems a little…  _

_ far-fetched? _

_ yeah _

_ a bit _

_ well, maybe _

_ but it would fit _

_ joe chill was active during that time _

“Theory number two is that Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed by a roving lunatic or serial killer. While this one could well be accurate, it must be remembered that Gotham was more filled with gangs and the mob than random lunatics at the time. However, this theory is one of the two theories most favored by police.” 

_ you don’t like this theory, do you _

_ as hercule poirot once said _

_ it’s too easy _

_ did you just quote a fictional detective at me ryan _

_ yes _

“Theory number three is that the Joker, pre-makeup and clown persona, was the killer. It must be noted that Bruce Wayne appears to hold a slightly above-average hatred of the Joker, and often helps to fund Arkham Asylum’s security in the frequent updates meant to curtail escapes. However, this theory relies solely on the fact that Bruce Wayne really hates the Joker, which is, admittedly, not all that sound of evidence, since anybody with morals hates the Joker.”

_ what’s the other theory that the police like _

_ we’re getting to that _

“The most popular theory among detectives and police investigators is that Thomas and Martha Wayne died in a mugging gone wrong and that the mugger was a small-time criminal who panicked when Thomas Wayne made aggressive moves toward him. The fact that Bruce Wayne survived the encounter seems to point to this, as most small-time criminals frown on harming children and would be unlikely to shoot an eight-year-old. Additionally, it’s questionable whether or not an eight-year-old would be able to scare off a seasoned murderer just by staring him down, which appears to be what happened.” 

_ well, that’s it! _

_ makes sense to me _

_ i think it is the most likely one _

_ but i like theories one and three _

_ of course you do _

“Despite heavy police investigation and a detailed description of the murderer, the man remains free and on the loose somewhere. As for the deaths of Gotham wealthy Thomas and Martha Wayne, this case will remain

UNSOLVED.” 

“Do you seriously think Bruce Wayne is Batman?” Shane asked. 

“Hmm. No, not really.” Ryan closed his folder. “I think he’s a bit too… um, I don’t think he’s the vigilante type, really.” 

“I could be Batman.” 

“You live on the other side of the country.” 

“But I could be!” 

“Ha, ha.” Ryan turned to the camera. “Make sure to send us all your questions for the postmortem!” 


	2. Wayne Murders Q&A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the postmortem!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the questions!   
> (I’d like to note that yes I did in fact leave all typos made by the commenters in, for the realism and all)

“Hello and welcome back to another episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved: Postmortem, a show where we answer your most pressing questions from the latest episode of Buzzfeed Unsolved, which was the Wayne Murders.” 

Shane snapped out of his brief ‘saw-a-monster’ look. 

“The questions we’re answering today came from our Facebook, our Instagram, and directly on the video on BUN!” Ryan went on. 

“Question one:” Ryan. “From our buddy Selene Starflower over on Instagram. ‘ Question for the postmortem! I have it on good authority that Chill was involved. The scene was very remiscent of some of his confirmed violent acts. Also interesting to note is that Batman parks in the alley they were killed on the anniversary of their murders and criminals typically avoid going out that night because he's more violent that usual.’ Okay,  _ what are your sources _ . And if Batman does get extra violent on the anniversary of their deaths and parks in that alley then I don’t even know.” 

“Interesting.” Shane said. “I guess that seals it! Bruce Wayne is Batman.” 

A pause. 

“I’m kidding.” Shane said. “Question two, from the video: 1-800-POOP said: ‘ Question for the postmortem: Is it possible that one if Wayne''s employe's hired a hitman on the family? They were all wealthy and he could've killed all of them in cold blood. If I recall correctly, neither of the parents had any relatives, save for their child. Maybe they had left their will to one of the employes, and that includes inheriting the company.’ Interesting question.” 

“Okay, I actually have answers for this one!” Ryan said. “Martha Wayne did have relatives, though she wasn’t fond of them and Bruce Wayne only ever speaks of his cousin Kate Kane. The only employee in their wills was Alfred Pennyworth- they willed him the guardianship of their son in the event of their untimely deaths. A few other people were in the wills, but the main beneficiary for both was their son.” 

“However-” Shane prompted. 

“However, one of the board members or high-up employees could have indirectly benefited from the deaths, yes.” 

“You always have to look at the ones that benefit from the death in murder cases.” Shane commented. 

Ryan snorted. “Question three, on the video, from biichan: ‘Question for the postmortem! So my GM was born and raised in Gotham and she told me about a secret society called the Court of Owls that rules the city from the shadows. No matter who did the deed, maybe it was the Court who ordered the hit?’ Look, I don’t want to die, okay? I don’t know much about this except that one rhyme I accidentally stumbled across doing research, and I would prefer not to challenge a secret society that has assassins.” 

“Yeah, dying would suck.” Shane agreed. 

“Well, that’s it for the questions! It’s been an interesting season, hasn’t it?”

“Yep. See you all next season!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s it for Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Fictional Season True Crime! For the moment, anyway. Thank you to everyone who left kudos, bookmarked, subscribed, commented, and read the fics in this series and I hope when I start the sequel series (Buzzfeed Unsolved: The Fictional Season Supernatural) you’ll check it out!  
> Come find me on tumblr @cassandra-starflower!

**Author's Note:**

> Please do leave questions. This will be the final installment for the foreseeable future, but you could leave ideas for future episodes in the comments too! I may not know the fandom well enough, but…


End file.
